Reconciliations
by breakdowns
Summary: As Eli and Clare move into their new Brooklyn apartment, they are reminded how far they've made it despite of all their hardships. The story of the day the two reunited again is brought up and Eli makes a jolting conclusion because of it.


Hi guys! This is my first posted story on this page and I'm actually terrified it's not good. I've read my good share of fanfiction but I'm surely not as good as a lot of my favorite writers on her. However, I did try my best. I did read this over myself so there may be mistakes and I'll fix them later when it's not almost 12 AM. Please review and hit me up on tumblr if you have a request. My user is Frostival. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one-shot! The italics is from the past when Eli and Clare were reuniting and the rest is present day. Sorry if it's confusing!

* * *

"I think I pulled a muscle." Eli Goldsworthy stated truthfully, dropping the full box of Clare Edwards' childish trinkets on their crappy, small couch they managed to scrounge up the money for one time at a yard sale in Toronto, knowing they'd soon be moving in together in a Brooklyn apartment and they'd much rather have a bad couch than none.

"You better watch it, Grandpa. You might break something." Clare reminded him jokingly, cracking another joke about their slim age gap that Eli found ridiculous for her to joke about. A thing she's been doing since he turned the age twenty-one.

The two had a funny relationship.

Eli and Clare would be lying if they said they thought they would be back together 4 years ago after their big mess during senior year. Clare called that time her dark days and she barely would talk about it. Eli couldn't complain. He surely didn't enjoy that time either.

They had no intentions on betting back together in the first place. They had practically pushed each other of their minds and went on with their lives as if their epic romance had never happened. As if three years of turmoil and reuniting never was even a blip on their radar.

They reunited Clare's freshman year. Platonically. Or at least, that's how it started. Clare made that ruthless decision one night during the first week of her college life at Columbia, loneliness consuming her in a way that made all her senses vanish. _"It would be nice to catch up"_ she managed to tell herself. And away her fingers found Eli's contact in her phone, a thing she couldn't dare to get herself to delete despite how she claimed to Alli that he meant nothing now. And he couldn't do it either. Eli had been shocked to see her name show up on the caller ID, a thing he would have begged to happen months prior. Whenever he thought he was over her, she'd always come back. He found it strange for the timing of the call, the clock just reaching 3 AM and the only reason he was up was because he had a fifteen page movie analysis paper to write.

* * *

_"Edwards." He mumbled groggily, his shock forced a rush of anxiety to flow through him. He'd always feel nervous around her._

_"Goldsworthy." She replied, the nickname he branded her rang in her ears. She had missed it and no one that had called her that besides him had said it just as right as Eli had. "I'm...I'm in New York. At Columbia, actually" Clare added as she bit on her thumb's fingernail to succumb the nervousness she had felt. _

_"I knew you'd make it in." Eli mentioned honestly, still not asking her why she was calling him even though he knew a hundred witty remarks to say about it. He wouldn't be surprised if it was just her telling him her life had been so much better without him. And he would have been happy for her. Besides how unhappy he had been without Clare Edwards, if she was happy he knew he'd always feel a little bit better._

_"Thanks...but I have an invitation." An invitation? She nearly hit herself on the head; her roommate would have found her insane if she hadn't been out with her boyfriend. _

_"What's your proposal?" Eli chided and Clare could almost feel his smirk illuminating through the phone. _

_"Maybe a friendly meeting to catch up? It has been nearly a year." Clare whispered, expecting a full out no to come from Eli's lips. She wouldn't blame him if he hated her like he had after their first break up. Or so he would tell himself he did. _

_But that hadn't been him for a while now. _

_"You know how I love friendly meetings with you." And Eli could already tell that he worded everything wrong within mere seconds. Friendly meetings? The last time they had one it ended with Clare's head right in front of his crotch and his school uniform pants soaked with cauliflower soup. _

_"Me too." Clare replied quietly and she flushed red as she noticed his words. _

_They still convinced themselves their friendly meeting would stay friendly. _

* * *

Eli rolled his eyes and started unpacking the box he had set on the couch prior to Clare's joking words. Their apartment may be barren but they had about 50 trinkets to make up for it.

"Is it sad I brought all these with me?" Clare whispered, her head now resting on Eli's shoulder as she stood hovering behind him on the tips of her toes.

"Not at all. It makes our apartment look a little bit happier." Eli replied, turning around to face the love of his life, giving her the opportunity to bury her face in his chest.

"We don't even have the bed yet. Just a mattress." Clare groaned, blaming herself for mistakenly ordering the bed frame too late in Toronto, knowing they won't have the bed until Bullfrog comes with another moving truck in a few days.

The young man laughed, Clare hadn't changed when it came to being a worrywart. It would remind him of the good old days they'd have the first time they had dated. "Clare, at least we aren't sleeping on the floor. And anyway, it's not like we need the bed frame to create anymore of a ruckus when you're already loud enough in bed. Don't want to annoy the neighbors, right?" Eli spoke suggestively, giving Clare a tight squeeze on her ass before she jumped and pushed him away.

"You're such a pervert." Clare stated embarrassingly, hitting Eli lightly on the chest before sauntering away from Eli, purposely swaying her hips in a way she knew made Eli weak in the knees.

* * *

_Clare Edwards was sitting anxiously in her car as she regretted making plans to see Eli again. It would have been better to keep him cut out of her life- but a part of her felt fulfilled to know she would see him again. She had missed him but she would never let anyone else know that. Hell, he was the man who had her virginity and had been around during the time she has been her happiest. She was now five minutes late and it took the girl a lot to not be punctual. She wondered if Eli was there yet. Maybe he didn't come. Would that even be that bad? She couldn't tell anymore. If he stood her up, she could act like she had never even asked him to meet up and Clare could move on and live a happy life. Well, she would try._

_Clare felt as if she was being weighed down by bricks as she made her way into the restaurant Eli had recommended they meet up at since her New York knowledge wasn't that complex yet. She had only been in New York for a few days and she feasted on cereal and bagels as if her life depended on it. Her heart felt heavy as she made eye contact with the Eli's back, he was sitting patiently at the bar part of the restaurant and she felt like she should've bolted then and there. _

_"Clare." Eli blurted out as he turned around to see Clare timidly standing a few feet behind him, thinking about how she should go up to him. She was showing an uncomfortable smile as she made her way to the stool beside him. Her hair was back at shoulder length curls and he would be mendacious if he said he didn't miss seeing those curls. He hadn't seen them since before she had to shave her head because of the cancer._

_"Hello, Eli." Clare uttered back and they made an awkward but much needed gaze after not seeing each other for so long. Last time they had saw each other was when she was found in a compromising position with Drew. She never wanted to feel that sinking feeling she had felt ever again. Watching Eli's heart be torn out because of her was something she would never take pride in._

_They made small talk mostly._

_"It sure is windy here."_

_"Welcome to New York"_

_"How's NYU?"_

_"Nice."_

_"How's Columbia?"_

_"Alright." _

_They both could tell this meeting only made things more awkward between them. Eli had expected Clare to make an excuse to leave so he was surely surprised to hear the next question escape the girl's mouth._

_"How's Lenore?" She asked casually, guessing he got with her after they had broken up. She had hoped not but she sure as hell knew she deserved to feel the pain._

_"I guess she's okay. I don't really talk to her anymore. Haven't really since me and you...uh...separated." He mumbled, opening the door for his next question. "How's Drew?"_

_Clare's lips fell to a straight line as she remembered her time with Drew. Her occasions around Drew made her feel like a complete idiot. What a great senior year she had. "Nothing happened after Wild West Night." Clare informed Eli, cutting straight to the point, feeling the need that she needed to tell him that Drew meant absolutely nothing to her now. _

_A silence fell between the two but it was a silence that felt much needed and comforting to the exes. They both hadn't actually been with anyone since their break up and it sure relieved the two. However, they would say this moment was just two friends catching up. _

_"Can I have an apple martini, please?" Clare asked the bartender who was standing a few steps away from the two past lovers, feeling the need to escape from some of the nervousness she was feeling. Maybe drinking would help. _

_"Clare Edwards drinks?" Eli questioned surprisingly. "And gets away with it when she's underage technically." _

_"There's so much you don't know about me." She had informed him, it was exactly the same thing he had told her at the Frostival where the reconciled the first time. They both had noticed her choice of words and the memories it brought them. "Anyway, I look way more mature than you think now. I'm a college girl, Eli. Also, it's not like you're old enough either."_

_"Touché."_

* * *

"Wow, our first night in our apartment." Clare declared the obvious, leaning against their bedroom door.

Eli didn't find it as special as Clare did, he expected they'd end up with their own place sooner or later and he was already settled in his pajama pants, resting on their mattress. The only thing that inhabited their bedroom at the moment. "We've slept together alone before." Eli reminded her, his eyes shifting over to Clare.

"But this place is ours." She replied back, walking over to Eli and kneeled on their mattress.

Eli grabbed the girl's hand, pulling her to lie next to him so he could wrap his arms around his girlfriend. "And I'm yours and you're mine." He whispered to her even though he had no reason to be quiet, for once they were alone in a place they could call their own, not in his bedroom at home where his parent's would constantly badger him about what they were really doing in his bedroom or Clare's house where her mother would keep watch on them at all time.

"What will my other boyfriend think." Clare replied jokingly, her forehead nuzzled up against Eli.

"He'll just have to deal with the fact I'm better." Eli alleged before pulling Clare closer against him.

But he was right. He had always been better.

* * *

_Eli Goldsworthy had never thought he would be carrying a drunk, Clare Edwards away from the bar. After three drinks, she was completely hammered and not in her right mind. And Eli didn't even know what he could do with the girl besides take her back to his dorm. He hadn't talked to her long enough to know where she was staying at Columbia. _

_So, he drove her back to his dorm in her car, since he had taken a cab to the restaurant and he wasn't risking having Clare's car towed. That'd put a damper on their newly found friendship. _**She'll only be here until she's sobered back up and I can take her home**_, he reasoned with himself even though it was nearly 11 PM now and the girl he had dragged back to his dorm looked like she was going to pass out. _

_The looks he had gotten as he brought Clare to his dorm room all gave the sense of _"Get it, Goldsworthy"_. If only they had known their past and that she just wasn't some drunk girl who would get him laid. She was Clare Edwards. The girl who had feelings for him during his eyeliner and all black clothes phase._

_"I can't believe you're drunk." Eli said in a frustrated manner, he didn't know how he would explain this to Clare in the morning. What would she think when she woke up back at Eli's dorm room?_

_"No, I'm not!" She slurred back childishly as she jumped on Eli's bed, kicking her feet back and forth just like she did when she would sit on top of his hearse before he crashed it into a wall in attempt to win her affection back._

_She looked adorable when she did that. _

_"I guess I'll sleep on the floor and you can take the bed." Eli said, grabbing an extra pillow and blanket from under his bed. "Woah. What the hell are you doing?"_

_Clare Edwards had drunkenly tried to pull off her dress over her head, leaving her stuck with the dress right over her face, not being able to navigate her way out of it. "I'm stuck." Clare whined, fidgeting sporadically. It was as if she was a five year old who couldn't figure out how to do anything right. _

_"Wait a minute." Eli groaned but he couldn't help but smile at the way she was acting. She was so damn cute when she was a drunk mess even though he knew the aftermath wouldn't be pretty. But he knew it'd be worth it. "Arms up." He said as he helped Clare get the dress over her head. _

_Eli tried his very hardest not to pay attention to the fact his ex-girlfriend was standing in his room with only her undergarments on. He would be lying if he said he didn't still care about the girl. He was scavenging through his drawer to find a shirt for Clare when she caught his attention because of the fact she made her way right behind him. "Is this shirt okay?" He questioned before she caught him off guard and pulled him into a sloppy, drunk kiss. "Clare." Eli pushed her away lightly before returning the kiss for a short moment. _

_"Come on, Eli. We both know we still have something." Clare drunkenly reminded him, grabbing him by his shirt again to give him a kiss and it took all he had in him to not kiss her back. _

_It was the thing he had wanted to happen ever since they broke up but not when she was drunk and not in her right mind. "Clare, as much as I want to kiss you, it's not right." He sighed and Clare's face fell, bitterly taking the shirt and pulled it on quickly before climbing into Eli's bed. _

_Eli frowned, he never would intentionally hurt the girl but he knew that if he let Clare kiss him she could surely wake up angry at him, saying he took advantage of her. He vowed that he wouldn't lose her again. He flicked off the light with a single touch and set up his floor bed until he felt Clare's hand grab him and pull him into the single bed. He guessed she forgave him. _

_He tried to keep distance between the two but he found it hard since Clare would constantly scoot closer so she could nuzzle herself against him. The innocence of it all made him not decline and he also couldn't help but want to hold her near. _

_Clare had woken up before Eli, a pounding headache causing her wake up to not be so pleasant. And surprisingly, she didn't freak out the moment she saw she was beside Eli. A feeling of contentment came with being beside him and she watched him intently for a while before his eyes fluttered open, causing them both to smile at each other. They both had missed this. _

_"Thank you." Clare mumbled groggily and Eli could tell she remembered last night. _

_"It's no problem. I wasn't going to take advantage of you when you were drunk. Especially if drunk Clare likes to kiss me." He grinned and Clare smiled back at him before giving him a quick peck on the lips. _

_"So does sober Clare." Clare winked at him before pulling the blanket over her more to cover the blush that was presenting on her cheeks._

_And at that moment, they were doomed. Eli and Clare were in a mess of feelings they had been in many times before. _

_This time they knew it was different. _

* * *

"I need to get changed, Eli." Clare cried out as she tried to break away from his arms. She did not want to sleep in jeans and she knew that if she stayed there any longer she would fall asleep.

"We can just strip off all your clothes and then you won't even have to leave the bed." He offered but Clare only rolled her eyes and rose from the bed to change.

"Nice try." Clare told him and changed into one of Eli's shirts before getting back into bed with Eli.

"That's the shirt you wore that night I brought you back to my dorm room because you were completely hammered. The night we got back together." He confirmed matter-of-factly and the two both laid there in awe at the fact they had made it this far. Farther than they have any other time they've been together.

Now, it wasn't a dorm room. It was their apartment and they were actually together and better than they ever have been. After all this time, they had made it.

And then Eli realized it.

He was going to marry Clare Edwards.


End file.
